March 13, 2010

Jay Leno and the Toyota Camry

You know your company is in trouble when it becomes the butt of jokes in stand-up comedians' routines.

Especially if your company is a car company, and the stand-up comedian is Jay Leno.

Because he really knows a lot about cars.

Back when it was Audi's turn in the dunking seat, he said in his Tonight Show opening monologue that his automotive nightmare was to be in a toll booth line up behind a Ford Pinto and in front of a Audi.

Thursday night, now back on the Tonight Show, he referred to the "Let's Make a Deal" show, and showed a clip from that production purporting to show what their top prize was.

(This is not yet on - or has already been removed from - YouTube, so I'm going from memory here...)

"Don Pardo, tell our winner what she has won!"

"A brand new 2010 Toyota Camry! Featuring 16-inch steel wheels [why they'd mention that when those are the cheapest wheels you can get on that car, I don't know...], front-wheel drive..."

And as the winner went to embrace her new chariot, the doctored video showed the car rocketing away off stage, dragging the winner with it, you heard a huge crash, then the screen went to that old black-and-white test pattern with the Indian chief head on it...

Cruel.

And apparently on the Oscars telecast (I don't have that much time on my hands) someone (maybe Steve Martin?) said, "The winner gets a statue; the loser gets a Toyota."